--- forwarded message, please reply to sender and MMD ---

Hi,  Although one might assume that most of your members interests
lie in antique music/musical boxes, I have been searching for some
information for a number of months with no success and wonder if
someone would help me.

I have searched through the Mechanical Music Digest directory trying
to locate information in respect of musical liquor decanters and was
unable to find any reference to them.  In addition, I have a copy of
Gilbert Bahl's "Music Boxes - The Collector's Guide to Selecting,
Restoring, and Enjoying New and Vintage Music Boxes" and the only
reference is one paragraph on page 44 under Novelty Music Boxes.

Query:

I have 4 musical decanters and a musical Princes' scotch bottle which
all have a Sankyo musical movement in the base, are key wound and have
an 'on/off' switch which activates the movement on the side of the
base.  In all decanters there are ballroom dancers (he is in black
tails, she is in a pink ball gown) which spin around as the cylinder
rotates.

I have purchased these decanters from many different locations around
Australia and every vendor suggested they were manufactured in the late
1950's or early 1960's.  The tunes include Blue Danube, Hi Lily Hi Lo,
The Rain in Spain (My Fair Lady) and Smoke Gets in Your Eyes.

I would like to know more about the origin of these decanters, their
age, were they just an advertising gimmick, how to estimate the age of
the Sankyo musical movement (some movements have all metal parts, some
movements have metal and plastic parts), are combs still available for
these movements.

I would appreciate any information on these musical decanters or any
suggestions as to where I might locate this information.

Regards from

Angela Carabott, Melbourne, Australia.